“I like you right here,” I murmur, leaning forward to catch his nipple between my teeth and bite down.
His gasp tangles with my name. “Keo!”
Chuckling, I pull him closer. Fuck it. I want him to feel exactly what he does to me. His ass grinds against what I can’t wait to bury inside him.
“Keep going, doc,” I say with a wicked grin. “I’m not doing anything but giving you a better angle.”
He shakes his head, and when I rest my forehead against his neck, he resumes, gently rubbing in the cream. The cool sting of medicine spreads across my skin, though his fingers feel like fire compared to the flames crackling in the fireplace behind him.
“Talk to me,” I whisper. “Tell me what hurts you, what makes you feel good… and what you want from us.”
His fingers still, causing my gaze to raise to meet his, and Icatch the storm of questions flooding his forest-colored eyes. I’ve never been this close, never been able to study them with such clarity. They’re primarily green, but from the iris, brown bleeds outward like paint, seeping into emerald, like it’s trying to take over.
“I want… transparency.” He pauses, but only for a split second. “And to just be yours, and for you to be just mine.”
I can’t stop myself from asking, “Are you worried I’d belong to someone else?”
“Your last relationship was poly. I just… I need you to know I don’t want that. I refuse to share you.”
I have no doubt the grin on my face is stupid. Leaning in, I press a kiss to his shoulder. “I’m all yours, sunshine. I don’t plan on sharing you either. I’m a selfish, greedy man when it comes to you.”
I’m not even going to comment on the jealousy thing—because I would be. The urge to break someone’s limb just for touching him simmers at the back of my mind. It’s insane, I know, so I keep it to myself.
His soft sigh of relief warms me, and he keeps working across my shoulders with gentle precision. “I think healthy arguments are necessary. We don’t have to be perfect, but… don’t walk out on me. Don’t leave me angry. And don’t be afraid to tell me when I’m wrong, or if I’m doing something you don’t like. I’m not fragile, just a little broken.”
My hand drifts up his side, the heat of his bare body searing into my palm. Ayden may feel broken, but he isn’t. Not to me. I understand him. And I just hope when it’s my turn to talk about my demons, he’ll understand me too.
“I don’t see you as anything but perfect.” My finger traces the scar down his spine, slipping beneath his boxers to where smaller ones scatter. “A little guarded, maybe. But I’d be the same…”
He shifts, pressing his cheek to the top of my head as his hand slides across to the other shoulder. “I should’ve let that guard down the moment you walked through the door back into my life. But it terrified me. I’d rather you be mad at me for keeping my distance than judge me.”
A frustrated groan rumbles out of me. “That would’ve beenthe last thing I’d ever do.”
“I know… Learned behavior, I suppose…”
I press my lips to his collar and trail them up the curve of his neck. “Running out on you the way I did—saying what I said—I know it didn’t help. I thought I was protecting you. Hoping maybe you’d hate me, move on to someone less… forbidden.”
“Joke’s on us both, all it did was—” he cuts himself off, his hands still. And when I lean back to catch his eyes, he shakes his head. “Never mind.”
“Tell me.” I cup his neck, his own hands hovering between us.
Another shake of his head. “You aren’t the only one who pays attention, Keo. I was going to make a bad joke.”
“Bad joke, huh?”
“Yeah, one that wasn’t funny.” He leans forward, brushing a kiss to my lips. “Let me wash my hands, you’re all set.”
As he shifts to stand, I help him up. As he turns, I scoot back against the couch, keeping my back straight so the ointment doesn’t smear onto the cushions.
Joke’s on us both, all it did was…The words loop in my head.
He’s gone only a few minutes, but long enough for me to sit here, stewing over what he meant. When he comes back and settles on my lap again, straddling me just as before, relief washes through me.
“Can I answer your third question from earlier?” he asks.
It’s obvious he wants to move on. As much as I want to pry, I let it go. Maybe that’s all it was.A bad joke.
I drag my fingers slowly up his back and nod. “Yes. What makes you feel good, sunshine?”
